On the other side are the up-and-coming Norwegians, whose golden generation of talent has brought them back to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Norway is ruthless. They won all eight qualifiers by outscoring their opponents 37-5. The team is filled with players representing clubs in Europe\u2019s top leagues, but 6-foot-4 striker Erling Haaland of Manchester City is the symbol of the national side.<\/p>\n
The Mbappe-Haaland duel alone is worth the watch. Norway, which is ranked 31st in the world, may be underdogs to No. 1 ranked France, but make no mistake: all giants can be tamed. An upset in this game could have major implications for the knockout round bracket.<\/p>\n
Mbappe could break World Cup all-time scoring record in Foxboro<\/p>\n
Mbappe enters the 2026 World Cup with 12 goals in previous tournaments, sitting just four behind the record of 16, held by Germany\u2019s Miroslav Klose.<\/p>\n
That means Mbappe could tie or surpass Klose\u2019s record against Norway on June 26. If he does, he will have accomplished the feat before turning 28, further cementing his impressive pedigree as the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo comes to a close.<\/p>\n
![\"England's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP25252749155607.jpg\")
England’s Harry Kane greets supporters at the end of the World Cup Group K qualifying soccer match between Serbia and England, at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo\/Darko Vojinovic)
\nFull-circle moment for England player involving Tom Brady, Patriots<\/p>\n
As a 16-year-old academy player at Tottenham, England striker Harry Kane struggled with doubts about his future as a professional player. Then, he stumbled upon the documentary \u201cThe Brady 6\u201d and took inspiration from the legendary quarterback\u2019s career ascent despite being the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Kane, who went on to become Tottenham\u2019s all-time leading scorer (280 goals), is now a major Patriots fan and friend of Brady\u2019s.<\/p>\n
When England plays Ghana on June 23, Kane will surely take pride in competing on the same field as one of his athletic heroes. Who knows? Brady may show up to his old digs to support his friend. Kane, the England team captain, is trying to win his first major international trophy at age 32. England has not won the World Cup since it hosted the tournament in 1966.<\/p>\n
Haiti and Scotland have interesting Boston area connections<\/p>\n
The first Boston area game is June 13 and features Haiti and Scotland, two nations with unique connections to local communities. For both teams, it could theoretically be a home game. Massachusetts is home to the third-largest Haitian population in the U.S., while New England has three of the top five states with the highest proportion of people with Scottish ancestry.<\/p>\n
Scottish immigrants played a formative role in the growth of soccer in America. In the early 20th century, the Boston area was home to a vibrant, 10-team Scottish Clans League, and more than 80 Scotland-born players have represented the U.S. men\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n
Haiti\u2019s connections at present are far more recent and direct. Team captain Frantzdy Pierrot graduated from Melrose High and played at Northeastern. Now Pierrot\u00a0 plays for reigning Greek champions AEK Athens and is having days named in his honor in Boston while flanked by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.<\/p>\n
Haiti has played at Gillette Stadium sporadically over the years, mostly for Concacaf Gold Cup games, and took the U.S. to the brink twice in 2009 and 2015. The Haitians are technical and possess smart, and have experienced talent based in competitive leagues. On paper, they\u2019re not favored to beat Scotland \u2013 or anyone else in Group C. But don\u2019t count them out.<\/p>\n
Scotland\u2019s fans travel well and will be eager to see the team reach the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time. The Scots are back in the prestigious tournament for the first time since 1998 and are in a strong enough position to break their streak of getting grouped, with a competent roster that includes Liverpool fullback Andrew Roberston and Napoli central midfielder Scott McTominay.<\/p>\n
![\"Morocco's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26004593760736.jpg\")
Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi runs with the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Morocco and Tanzania in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
\nMorocco is a dark horse<\/p>\n
Scotland\u2019s game against Haiti is a must-win, because it won\u2019t get any easier against Morocco (June 20 at Boston Stadium) or Brazil (June 25).<\/p>\n
Morocco is profiting off a special generation of players. They won the Africa Cup of Nations last year, and four years ago became the first African nation to reach the semifinals of the World Cup. Now ranked seventh and with star players in every area of the field: Yassine Bounou, widely considered among the best goalkeepers in the world; Achraf Hakimi, the captain and right back for the two-time Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain; Sofyan Amrabat, the midfield general; Ayoub El Kaabi, the roster\u2019s leading scorer who is lights-out with Olympiakos; and too many more to name. This time around, everyone sees the Moroccans coming.<\/p>\n
Given all this, Morocco is also viewed by some as a contender. Scotland is a wildcard in the Moroccans\u2019 Group C journey. It\u2019s not just winning that matters. It\u2019s how convincingly they do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven FIFA World Cup matches will be played at Gillette Stadium, also known as Boston Stadium, starting next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[8094,249,251,250,15297,8367,125116,125115,54605,76922,24215],"class_list":["post-297021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-england","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-france","tag-haiti","tag-harry-kane","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-morocco","tag-scotland","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}